THIRTY SPEAKERS ADDRESS SPECIAL SESSION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF BARBADOS PROGRAMME OF ACTION

Press Release
GA/9612
ENV/DEV/522

THIRTY SPEAKERS ADDRESS SPECIAL SESSION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF BARBADOS PROGRAMME OF ACTION

Thirty speakers addressed the General Assembly this afternoon as it continued its two-day special session to review progress achieved in implementing the Programme of Action adopted at the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (Barbados, 1994).

Many speakers stressed that the international community must act with more urgency to address the needs of such States, and support their efforts for sustainable development. Speakers drew attention to a wide range of issues, including the need for protecting such States against the negative impact of globalization, environmental degradation, poverty, natural disasters and climate change.

Regarding the impact of globalization, the Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados, Billie Miller, called for transitional arrangements to enable such States to adjust to full trade liberalization. Their attempts to diversify should be supported and they should be afforded protection against the insidious spread of transnational crime. The vulnerability index could be an important element in considering a country's graduation from concessionary financing; international development institutions should accept and apply it.

The Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Housing of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Timothy Harris, emphasized the need to address such issues as crime and drug trafficking, poverty alleviation and unemployment, as they threatened the national security of small island developing States. The Caribbean Sea was a special development area, he said, especially in respect to the transboundary movement of hazardous and radioactive wastes. Member States and the United Nations system should actively support efforts to implement this concept, and take action to avert the threat of pollution from ship-generated waste.

The Minister of Internal Affairs of the Marshall Islands, Hiroshi Yamamura, called for the international community to be more cognizant of the calamitous effects of climate change. The Marshall Islands was trying to respond to climate change, but there seemed to be no evidence that the countries most responsible for it would take serious steps until they themselves felt its effects. Warning that the tragic

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9612 Twenty-second Special Session ENV/DEV/522 2nd Meeting (PM) 27 September 1999

results of the recent hurricanes of death and destruction were just premonitions of what was to come, he said he hoped those most responsible for the current predicament would act.

The Minister for Forests, Environment and Conservation of Solomon Islands, Hilda Kari, said resource mobilization was one of the main challenges for the international community. Inadequate financial resources and the lack of capacity remained major obstacles to the wider implementation of programmes. Equally important was capacity-building through education and training, awareness-raising, institutional strengthening and coordination, and availability of and access to environmentally sound technologies.

The Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Carlos Veiga, said the achievement of acceptable human development indicators had sometimes been used to justify sudden cuts in official development assistance. Those cuts were disastrous -- they penalized countries for their efforts and failed to take seriously the fragility of small island States’ socio-economic equilibria. He appealed to the international community for genuine partnership, saying that "targeted implementation” of the Programme had become a euphemism for selection dictated by lack of necessary resources.

The representative of France said that the Barbados Programme of Action could only be implemented if everyone assumed their responsibilities. Island States should work out national and regional sustainable development strategies and implement domestic policies accordingly. Donor countries should reverse the downward trend in development assistance and provide small island developing States with the resources they needed to bolster their national capabilities. Coordination among donors should also be improved in order to maximize the impact of assistance.

Also this afternoon, the Assembly heard from: Uganda's Cabinet Minister, Slovakia's Minister for Foreign Affairs (on behalf of the Visegrad Group), Canada's Minister for International Cooperation, Suriname's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Equatorial Guinea's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bahrain's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Norway's State Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

In addition, statements were made by Germany's Deputy Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Ecuador's Vice-Minister for International Organizations, China's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Also, the Assembly heard from the representatives of Namibia, Slovenia, Russian Federation, Belgium, Japan, Libya, Nigeria, Tonga, Sudan, Tunisia, Peru, Qatar, Mongolia and Mozambique.

The special session will meet again at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Assembly Work Programme

As the special session of the General Assembly on Small Island Developing States continued this afternoon, 22 speakers were expected to participate in the debate on review and appraisal of the implementation of the Assembly's Programme of Action for the sustainable development of those countries, formulated by the Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States at Bridgetown, Barbados, in 1994.

Statements

CARLOS VEIGA, Prime Minister of Cape Verde: It should be recognized that small island States have assumed their commitments under the Barbados Programme of Action with seriousness and a sense of ownership. Even under difficult conditions, we have made considerable efforts to implement those commitments. This is a necessary condition for our progress and survival. In addition, small island States recognize that we are the custodians of large areas of the world’s oceans, which are important to all people, and that we have a high share of global biodiversity. Moreover, we are most vulnerable to the global threat of climate change. All these factors provide powerful arguments and high motivation for a genuine, rich and diversified partnership between our countries and the international community.

Five years after Barbados, this special session will adopt two important documents -- a declaration and a progress report embodying proposals for the future implementation of the Programme of Action. It will renew and update the political will of the international community, and also help small island States increase and improve the effectiveness of their own efforts. It will encourage our partners to place a higher value on cooperation. Between 1994 and 1997, net transfers to our countries fell by 17 per cent, with obvious consequences for our capacity to implement strategies for sustainable development. “Targeted implementation” of the Programme has become a euphemism for selection dictated by lack of necessary resources.

The priorities -- climate change, natural disasters, water resources, marine and coastal resources, energy and tourism -- are indeed critical areas. Cape Verde faces long-standing and very serious problems regarding water resources. Persistent drought has placed a continuous drain on our scarce resources. Despite the special constraints, small island States face, the achievement of acceptable human development indicators has sometimes been used to justify sudden cuts in Official Development Assistance (ODA). These cuts are disastrous as we try to consolidate and sustain our new development projects. This disturbing trend penalizes countries for their efforts and fails to take seriously the fragility of small island States’ socio-economic equilibriums. We urge our international partners to recognize that fluctuations in the small amount of assistance can have a great impact on small island societies.

BILLIE A. MILLER, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados: The Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States created expectations among its target group that were not fully shared by the more influential members of the international community. Our debate must be informed by one central factor: the impact of globalization and trade liberalization on our countries' economic prospects. With the erosion of trade preferences and the decline in aid flows, the sustainable development of such States is constrained by the magnitude of the economic adjustments we are compelled to make.

Much has been done to expand the concepts of vulnerability articulated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Commonwealth Secretariat. The vulnerability index could be an important element in a country's graduation from concessionary financing, if international development institutions would accept and apply it. For alternative approaches to succeed in lessening the vulnerability of small States, they must be innovative.

These small and vulnerable economies need longer and more flexible transitional arrangements to allow them to adjust to full trade liberalization. They need enlightened responses from the international community, and policies that help to strengthen their human and institutional capacities and to take full advantage of the new technologies of the knowledge-based economy. “They need support for their attempts to diversify into new areas, such as services, not arbitrary reactions which attribute any perceived competitiveness to practices dubiously described as harmful.” They also need protection against transnational crime. Their sustainable will require the international community's unambiguous commitment to develop special measures to guard against their further marginalization.

BETTY OKWIR, Minister in the Office of the Vice-President of Uganda: Small island developing States must be recognized as a category of countries whose vulnerability deserves special attention. This will help in the urgent mobilization of support for their efforts to develop sustainably.

The sustainable development of small islands should not be taken for granted. Their very survival, in a world in which unsustainable production and consumption patterns threaten the global ecological balance, may well mirror the fate of humankind. We particularly condemn the continued dumping of hazardous and radioactive wastes and materials in the Caribbean Sea and similar environments.

Small islands must be accorded special consideration on account of their debilitating economic vulnerability as a result of size and environmental fragility, as well as natural disasters. Likewise, they must be accorded special treatment under existing multilateral trade agreements. And they should be considered favourably for access to concessional resources to enable the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action. The international community must recommit itself to the continuous and full implementation of the Programme. "That is the least we can do in support of peoples and a culture whom nature seemed to endow so generously with one hand and threatens to obliterate, with the connivance of irresponsible producers, consumers and polluters, with the other."

EDUARD KUKAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, speaking on behalf of the Visegrad Group, consisting of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia: the countries of the Group support the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action in all its 14 priority areas and are ready to contribute to the success of this session, which should be a forward-looking and action-oriented exercise. The Prime Ministers and Ministers of Environment of the Group, meeting in May of this year, supported a coherent and integrated approach to sustainable development.

As emerging donor countries, the four countries of the Group have a growing capacity to contribute to technical assistance and science and technology development. Mutual trade between the Visegrad countries and the small island developing States has been growing in recent years, and there is potential to increase it, in particular on the basis of identification of investment opportunities in small island developing States. The latter countries have also become a popular tourist destination for the countries of the Group.

One of the most important tasks in assisting small island developing States is to combat global warming. Unfortunately, as is well known, the commitments undertaken in the Convention on Climate Change were not sufficient to stabilize emissions of greenhouse gases at the level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system. That is why the countries of the Group have worked together with small island developing States on the elaboration of the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention. All the Group countries have signed the Protocol, but we are concerned with slow progress in elaborating rules in some key areas. Without significant progress in negotiations on the pending issues in Bonn this autumn, the early entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol will be imperilled. We are committed to assist small island developing States in establishing and strengthening national and regional mechanisms and policies to reduce the impact of natural disasters and improve preparedness. Utmost attention should be given to early warning mechanisms in that context.

HILDA KARI, Minister for Forests, Environment and Conservation of Solomon Islands: The economic and ecological vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States impact on those countries in ways that magnify the risks and demand greater and more urgent action than in other developing countries. Efforts to produce a composite vulnerability index must continue to be supported. Despite the increasing global recognition and significance attached to the sustainable development of sall island developing States, international implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action has been unsatisfactory.

Solomon Islands has been taking steps to carry out the Programme. The National Environment and Management Strategy recognizes the importance of our environment and its resources to the health, welfare and development of our communities. Regional cooperation is also a vital mechanism for action. There is a need to ensure greater collaboration among small island developing States regions through the development of common approaches and exchange of experiences and information.

However, inadequate financial resources and the lack of capacity remain major obstacles to the wider and timely implementation of programmes and projects. Resource mobilization is therefore one of the main challenges for the international community. Adequate, predictable and new and additional financial resources are essential for the successful implementation of the Programme of Action. Equally important is capacity- building through education and training, awareness-raising, institutional strengthening and coordination, and availability of and access to environmentally sound technologies.

MARIA MINNA, Minister for International Cooperation of Canada: Small island developing States have been a priority in Canada’s ODA for more than 30 years. So far, we have supported over 500 projects in coastal and small island developing States, and acquired an understanding of the development challenges facing them. They include such universal issues as poverty reduction and human resources development, as well as meeting the challenges of globalization and taking advantage of its opportunities.

Partnership is key to implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action. Small island developing States need to pool individual resources and fulfil overlapping responsibilities. For certain issues, such as environmental protection of the seas, “the regional approach is the only one that works”. Canada also encourages partnership between non-governmental organizations, local communities and the private sector in order to achieve sustainable development.

The hard-won operational experience and expertise that Canada and her partners have accumulated in certain small island States is potentially useful for their counterparts in other parts of the world. In this great and growing pool of experience, we have an important international resource waiting to be shared further. This resource, this experience, can and should play an important part in the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action.

HIROSHI YAMAMURA, Minister of Internal Affairs, Marshall Islands: While the Marshall Islands seeks to be proactive in implementing the Barbados Programme of Action, proactive action by the international community is needed as well. The decline of financial and technical support is alarming. The little that has been received has come primarily from "long-time friends". The Barbados Programme yielded little new financial support for sustainable development projects; it is disappointing that there are now attempts to back away from the financial commitments made therein. Small island developing States face common problems, as the Programme of Action recognized. Least developed and developing members of our Alliance should be given appropriate assistance.

The Marshall Islands is on the frontline of climate change. Our difficult situation is made more precarious by the lack of progress in dealing with greenhouse gas emissions. We see little evidence that the countries primarily responsible for climate change will do anything serious until they, themselves, feel the effects. The tragic results of the recent hurricanes of death and destruction are just premonitions of what is to come.

The Marshall Islands is trying to do more than what is required by international law in respect of climate change. Though our emissions are so low that they do not show up on the scales used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we are trying to make them even lower. We are finalizing a sustainable energy development policy, which will include such targets as the reduction of emissions and moving the economy away from fossil fuels. We hope others will take similar steps, especially those most responsible for the current predicament. The international community should be more cognizant of the calamitous effects of climate change, which pose major threats to small islands and low-lying coastal areas. We are a pragmatic group; we seek to cooperate, not confront. If faced with imminent destruction, most other countries would have taken up arms. The United Nations too must be more responsive to our modest requirements and our reasoned project proposals.

ERROLL G. SNIJDERS (Suriname): Suriname, 90 per cent covered by rainforests, recognized the need for a sustainable balance between economic development and safeguarding its environment even before the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the adoption of Agenda 21. Its conservation measures were later acknowledged and reflected in the Convention on Biodiversity and the Principles for the Sustainable Use of Forests. There are now many protected areas and diverse ecosystems in Suriname, from coastal zones deep into the country’s interior.

In the wake of the adoption of Agenda 21 and the Barbados Programme of Action, Suriname recognizes the need to strengthen its capacity for sustainable resource management. It seeks to create appropriate institutional mechanisms to design and enforce sound environmental policies to counter the pressures arising from economic development. These include a National Council for the Environment and a National Institute of Environment and Development, which, in cooperation with national and international non-governmental organizations, has increased the public awareness of the fragility of Suriname’s ecosystems. Increased mining and wood processing during the last few years have made it necessary also to create a Foundation for Forestry Management and supervision to guarantee the sustainable use of Surinam’s tropical rainforests.

There is a deep concern that while at the national level, small island developing nations have demonstrated their resolve in implementing the Barbados Programme, the adequate and predictable financial resources pledged by the international community in support of such implementation have not been provided. We call for the strengthening of the Small Island and Developing Nations Unit in the Department of Social Affairs, and for the Small Island Developing States Network (SIDSNET), to be recognized as an important tool in capacity-building efforts.

Finally, the protection of the Caribbean Sea as a “special area” in the context of sustainable development, and to protect it from the dangers of the transboundary movement of hazardous and radioactive waste, is a matter of survival for the small island developing nations of the region.

TIMOTHY HARRIS, Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Housing of Saint Kitts and Nevis: Progress made so far by small island developing States has been due in part to contributions and assistance from donor agencies and countries. Continued support is necessary if countries like ours are to continue to work towards the realization of full implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action. We support declaring the Caribbean Sea as a special development area -- especially in respect of the transboundary movement of hazardous and radioactive wastes -- and expect Member States and the United Nations system to actively support efforts to implement this concept. They should also take action to control pollution from ship-generated waste.

Critical action is also required to address issues such as trade liberalization, crime and drug trafficking, poverty alleviation and unemployment, as these all threaten the national security of small island developing States. Our efforts to alleviate poverty are being undermined by unjust international trading systems and economic regulations, which are militating against poverty alleviation programmes in small countries.

The Barbados Programme of Action places strong emphasis on environmental management. It does not provide for action on certain social issues, including HIV/AIDS, that also require action. There is a need to develop instruments that encourage the type of relations that small island developing States want. International agencies must meet their commitments to small island developing States, and there should be a comprehensive review of the Barbados Programme in 2004. Numerous projects require the support of the donor community for effective realization. Their successful implementation would translate into increased opportunities for all our citizens.

SANTIAGO NSOBEYA EFUMAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Equatorial Guinea: If countries are to share the immense benefits of the development of science and technology, new, more equitable methods of cooperation are needed. Small island developing States require support, solidarity and assistance from the international community to enable them to overcome the huge difficulties they face. Concrete measures should be undertaken to guarantee peace and security, combat the power of organized crime, consolidate democracy and establish the rule of law.

My country’s territory is divided between the continent and islands. To fight the reality of marginalization and facilitate the integration of our countries into the world economy, it is necessary to make our economies competitive; international organizations, regional groups and individual countries should provide assistance in that respect. A fair mechanism for providing assistance to small island developing States in cases of natural disasters is also needed. It is paradoxical that, despite so many strategies and ideas, the situation seems to be deteriorating.

On its part, in order to achieve sustainable development, Equatorial Guinea has adopted a national strategy, which involves all sectors of its society. Recently, we held a national economic conference to define priorities for national development in all sectors and work out strategies for rational utilization of oil resources. My country is also making its modest contribution to subregional integration.

MOHAMMED BIN MUBARAK AL-KHALIFA, Foreign Minister of Bahrain: The era of globalization, trade liberalization and the securing of resources essential for sustainable development, as well as the development of human resources and the preservation of the environment, have imposed specific conditions that small island developing States are required to fulfil in order to integrate into the world economy. Those challenges are further exacerbated by small and limited markets and by structural restraints that limit the capacity for diversification and expansion of their economies and competitiveness.

The international community is duty bound to assist these States, materially and technically. The Barbados Plan of Action, if implemented effectively by donor States and organizations, would be an important factor in alleviating the difficulties and impediments faced by many States, as well as spare them the burdens entailed with borrowing from international funds.

Bahrain has drawn up and implemented programmes to address such problems as the gradual depletion of natural resources and the scarcity of water resources. These development projects led to, among other things, diversification of economic activity and proper management of natural resources. These efforts have culminated in Bahrain taking an advanced position over the last five years in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Index.

USCHI EID, Deputy Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany): Sustainable development is a complex issue requiring inter-sectoral approaches and integrated planning. The Barbados Programme of Action is right in emphasizing the strengthening of institutional, technological and human capacities. Subregional or regional cooperation should bridge the gap for those countries unable to avail themselves of the instruments for coping with emerging national issues.

International trade is a prerequisite for sustainable development, but changes in the international trade regime can weaken trade terms and lower national incomes. Development assistance can help in the medium term to improve the availablity of public goods, adjust domestic policies and strengthen institutional and human capacities. The special interests and needs of developing countries should be better taken into account in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Germany supports the next round of multilateral negotiations on international trade under WTO auspices. There should be further reduction in trade barriers. Small island developing States should receive more secure access to export markets, and they should develop partnerships with the private sector to increase investment flow and technology transfer.

Implementation of the Barbados Programme requires sound and strong development- oriented domestic policies. It also relies on increased donor coordination, improved quality in aid programmes and the initiation of innovative development, trade and finance opportunities with Small island developing States.

LEIV LUNDE, State Secretary for International Development and Human Rights of Norway: Much remains to be done to promote sustainable developments in small island developing States. Further action depends primarily upon national action in and by the countries themselves. However, international cooperation —- both regional and global -— is also required if those efforts are to succeed.

Small island developing States are practically non-contributors to climate gas emissions and sea-level rise. Yet, they are likely to suffer most as a result of climate change. Their participation and contribution in climate change negotiations are of crucial importance. This morning, Norway signed an agreement with the United Nations for Norwegian financing of a small island developing States advisory function in the Department of Social and Economic Affairs for a period of three years. This should assist the United Nations in providing timely and high-quality advice of key importance to small island developing States. Norway also supports the “SIDSNET,” which we find to be an innovative use of information technology particularly suitable for small States with limited resources that are spread out over a large area of the globe.

The special session must give strong and clear signals to the international financial institutions and United Nations’ organizations to provide appropriate assistance to small island developing States. We must not lose sight of the need for an integrated, cross-sectoral approach where environmental, economic and social concerns are addressed in a comprehensive manner. The Barbados Programme of Action, updated and refined, will provide an excellent basis to achieve this ambitious objective.

PAULINA GARCIA-DONOSO DE LARREA, Vice-Minister for International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador: Small island States attract the world's interest because of their natural riches, which allow them to enjoy high levels of tourist development. Yet those same States were extremely vulnerable, both economically and ecologically. Their geographical situation made them particularly vulnerable to natural disasters.

The effects of globalization should be taken into account in considering cooperation to help small island States to adapt to the new global structures and also in efforts to advance the implementation of the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action. The countries located in the Caribbean Sea should be integrated into special programmes for small island States in the context of sustainable development.

The effects of the El Niño phenomenon were felt across large portions of the globe. Ecuador has promoted the establishment, in Guayaquil, of an international centre for research on El Niño. Such a centre could lead to a better understanding of the phenomenon, including early warning mechanisms by which the effects could be reduced and prevented through national and international plans. This envisaged centre should become a reality as quickly as possible.

WANG GUANGYA (China): There is still a big gap between actual progress made and the objectives set forth in the Programme of Action. First, the level of financial and technical assistance provided to small island developing States (SIDS) by the international community, especially developed countries, is far from satisfying. Second, environmental problems of SIDS remain unsolved. Third, the Asian financial crisis has had a strong adverse impact on export, tourism and investment flows for SIDS. Finally, with the accelerated pace of globalization and ever more fierce international competition, those countries face many challenges. It is necessary to reaffirm the principle and spirit of the Programme of Action, review past lessons, explore ways to resolve obstacles and mobilize political will to reach an action-oriented consensus.

As economic globalization creates unprecedented fierce competition, the international community should pay closer attention to the situation of SIDS and the least developed countries. It should take concrete action to help SIDS overcome difficulties in the financial, technical and capacity-building areas. It should also encourage and support SIDS in formulating their own strategies for sustainable development and establishing priorities as dictated by national conditions. The international community should help SIDS overcome the challenges brought by economic globalization, and also help them explore and identify better ways to attract foreign investment and create more trade opportunities.

MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia): The environmental problems confronting small island developing States are a reflection of our global problems. The aftermath of the international financial crisis that affected South-East Asian countries, and of Hurricane Mitch in the Caribbean and Central American States, demonstrates that in the contemporary global environment, small island developing States are more vulnerable than others.

It is therefore essential for the international community to provide assistance, through financial provisions and in kind, to ensure proper training and information dissemination to facilitate States’ implementation of sustainable development strategies. Small island States are the custodians of our oceans and marine environment; the international community should redress the decline in net disbursements of bilateral and multilateral aid to them.

Namibia, as one of the most arid States, understands the importance of implementing the Programme of Action. We welcome the 11 gauges set up in the South Pacific States to monitor sea-level rise, and the strengthening of the tide gauge for the Global Oceanic Observation System in the Caribbean. Namibia appreciates the efforts made by donor States to approach national and regional project proposals in a manner consistent with the Programme of Action. Let us use this special session to galvanize the necessary political will to generate momentum to eradicate poverty and enhance global prosperity in a sustainable manner.

DANILO TURK (Slovenia): Slovenia is strongly committed to the implementation of the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 and is intensely aware of the problems associated with the diversity of tasks involved. A satisfying momentum has been created at the level of political understanding and institutional improvement, which has helped in creating the policy approaches intended to assist small island developing States. However, more needs to be done in such basic areas as environmental protection and economic development.

The future ecological situation of the small island developping States is a truly global responsibility. Effective action is needed to stop and reverse trends such as global warming and address other environmental challenges. The vulnerability of the small island developing States also has an economic dimension. Changes in international commodity prices and the general demand for goods affect them on many levels. More often than not, these changes represent a direct cause of economic problems, poverty and social disintegration. Recognition of these problems must lead to specific action in the future. One area for action lies in methodology. Compilation of a vulnerability index will help in assessing the needs of the most severely affected the small island developing States.

Finally, the small island developing States clearly need special attention in international trade and other spheres of international cooperation. While trade liberalization provides opportunities for all States, small island developing States are clearly among those most in need of international assistance in order to increase their competitiveness. They may also require special and preferential treatment in the multilateral trading system.

NIKOLAY V. TCHOULKOV (Russian Federation): The unique potential of the small island developing countries arises from their vast experience of socio-cultural development, and the large ocean areas around them, which contain a significant share of global biological diversity. Because oceans and seas surrounding many small island States are a valuable part of the common heritage of humankind, the solution of their problems is the common responsibility of the international community.

Over the last five years certain progress has been achieved in the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action, especially in the field of integration of environmental dimensions in the strategies of socio-economic development. But the objective of achieving sustainable development requires additional effective measures. At the same time, the problems of small island development States cannot be separated from the global problems of environment and development.

We believe that approaches to problems of sustainable development should be set out within the framework of existing agreements and international legal documents, elaborated by competent multilateral institutions of the United Nations system. Strict adherence to the principles and norms of international law is the token of effectiveness and efficiency of such efforts. Russia is ready to utilize its scientific and technological potential and its experience in studying the world oceans for practical assistance to the small island developing States.

ANDRE ADAM (Belgium): mFor many of us the first contact with small island developing States and their specific problems was the Summit at Rio de Janeiro. Here, we discovered that the beautiful atolls were already threatened by a rising sea level. The small island States and the European Union have taken a united stand which led to the adoption of the Convention on Climate Change, as well as its Protocol adopted at Kyoto. Belgium was one of the first countries to implement an “eco-tax”, penalizing polluting emissions and stimulating investments in correct technologies.

The first result of the Barbados Conference is clearly intangible, but real: the specific vulnerabilities of the small island developing States have been recognized as such and taken on by the international community. The small island States have put together a communal programme that encompasses all the problems they face. New and innovative projects have been financed by the fund for global environment, for example the global system to study the oceans, and access to the Internet for virtually every island, as well as the realization of SIDSNET.

But complacency is not in order. The most vulnerable among the small island States remain deprived of the necessary resources to design a strategy for sustainable development. The Belgium delegation is of the opinion that international assistance should focus mainly on the needs of the most vulnerable States. In addition to its contributions to the fund for global environment, to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and to the Lomé Convention, the Belgian Government has granted $7.15 million in bilateral aid in 1998 for several projects and initiatives in small island States.

YUKIO SATOH (Japan): It is vital for small island developing States to assert their ownership of the process of achieving sustainable development. Since the 1994 conference, Japan’s bilateral assistance to these countries has increased greatly -– by 30 per cent in 1997 alone. In providing ODA to small island States, Japan considers the conditions in each country, so that its assistance conforms to individual needs. In addition, through ongoing policy dialogue between Japanese overseas missions and the local offices of Japanese aid agencies on the one hand, and recipient country governments and the organizations through which assistance is channelled on the other, Japan is doing its utmost to formulate and implement highly effective projects.

Furthermore, Japan earmarked one fourth of its ODA for 1998 for the environment. Climate change is already having a direct impact on small island developing States, as seen in the increasing frequency of storms and hurricanes. Japan has been extending financial cooperation to the Maldives and other island States for the construction of sea walls to protect their shores against damage from high tides. In that context, Japan and Papua New Guinea are sponsoring an event tomorrow on the theme, “The Impact of Natural Disaster on Small Island Developing States”. This event will feature the results of investigations and analyses carried out by the Marine Science and Technology Centre in Japan on the huge tsunami that struck Papua New Guinea last year. Japan places top priority on bringing about the conditions necessary for the early entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. It recognizes that the international community must build highly reliable and feasible systems for implementing the Kyoto mechanisms, including the Clean Development Mechanism, so that measures against global warning can be translated into real action.

The entire world must strive to prevent global warming. To assist developing countries in combating it, Japan has in place the Kyoto initiative, whose three pillars are: cooperation in capacity development; ODA loans on the most concessional terms; and exploitation and transfer of Japanese technology and know-how. In addition, Japan is studying the possibility of holding high-level meetings with small island developing States on climate change.

ALAIN DEJAMMET (France): We pay tribute to the bold policies implemented by many small island developing States to overcome their structural handicaps and protect the environment. Nonetheless, effective implementation of the Programme of Action has been slowed down by the economic difficulties encountered by many small island developing States and by their lack of skilled human resources and administrative capacities. In this context, outside assistance is vitally needed by the vast majority of small island developing States.

France’s official development assistance accounts for the most substantial effort, relatively speaking, on the part of industrialized countries. This effort is directed first and foremost at the poorest countries, although vulnerability is also a criterion for assistance. France is also one of the leading donors providing diversified assistance to small island developing States. A lot remains to be done with respect to sustainable development in the SIDS, which confronted such challenges as protection of the marine environment, mitigation of natural disasters, adapting to climate change and intergraion into the global economy.

The Barbados Programme can only be implemented if everyone assumes their responsibilities. Island States should work out national and regional sustainable development strategies and put in place a suitable domestic foundation in the political, economic, social and legal, as well as environmental spheres. Adopting an integrated development approach to the areas covered by the Programme of Action does not mean that they should not establish priorities. The donor countries should reverse the downward trend in ODA and provide SIDS with the substantial resources they need to bolster their national capabilities. Coordination among donors should also be improved, in order to maximize the impact of assistance.

ISA AYAD BABAA (Libya): The United Nations has warned the international community that sea-level rise, as the result of global warming, could be expected to transform small islands into "paradise lost". Islands scattered across the globe, from the Caribbean to West Africa, from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, from the Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea -- all are facing severe threats. Libya has close friendly ties with those islands and, because it suffers from desertification and scarcity of water, sympathizes with the problems they faced.

The Barbados Programme of Action is evidence of the world's interest in the plight of small island developing States. Agenda 21 also recognized their special development needs. There is a need to foster an international environment for mobilizing financial resources, arresting environment degradation and alleviating poverty.

Small island developing States bear the prime responsibility for their own sustainable development; their measures to achieve self-reliance are welcome. The international community must honour its commitments and support them by increasing the flow of resources to them, bilaterally and multilaterally. Small island developing States must be integrated into the world economy, and their resources developed. There is a further urgent need to eliminate the pollution resulting from some major Powers dumping their waste in the high seas. The SIDS must be able to live in peace and security; this requires that they be free of foreign bases.

HASSAN ADAMU, Minister of Environment (Nigeria): The interdependence of humankind and of nations is obvious -- no one man, woman or State can afford to be an island unto itself, not even the smallest island developing State.

The question of freshwater resources and management of wastes is of particular importance especially for the small island developing States. Nigeria currently derives over 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings from revenues accruing from oil exploitation and activities in coastal environment. That is the basis of Nigeria's commitment to the prevention of oil spillage and of the dumping of toxic and hazardous wastes, chemicals and radioactive materials in coastal areas. The need for universal commitment to such preventive measures has become more pressing due to the isolation of SIDS and their complete dependence on marine resources as well as limited terrestrial base which makes them highly vulnerable to contamination from such wastes.

The Barbados Programme of Action has been heavily hampered by inadequate financial support. The SIDS are also hampered by inadequate institutional capacity for the enforcement of environmental legislation and regulation. Assistance from governments, international agencies and bodies always come too late to make the necessary positive impact. Also, due to their inability to negotiate better trade terms in the age of globalization, poverty levels in SIDS has increased. Furthermore, the frequent climate change and damaging natural disasters have impacted adversely on the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action on tourism.

TU'A TAUMOEPEAU TUPOU, Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Tonga: The constraints on small island developing States include limited land, scarcity of resources, fragile environments, small domestic markets and vulnerability to natural disasters. These are compounded by increasing competition in the global economy, which affects SIDS economies with regard to trade investment and capital markets. In implementing the Barbados Programme of Action, urgent action is required from the international community in the areas of renewable energy, sustainable tourism, agriculture and fisheries, coastal and marine resources, as well as freshwater resources, and in the preservation of biodiversity.

The development of fisheries is most important to Tonga. Developments such as negotiations by the Pacific region with distant fishing entities are most welcome. It is of concern, however, that the donor community is reluctant to assist in priority areas such as surveying the continental shelf. The region will have to be much more proactive in pursuing sea-bed mining interests.

Telecommunications and information technology also present new opportunities for small islands, but geographic disposition renders them costly. The international community must help in capacity-building, technology transfer and management, strengthening of health and education systems, and development of new markets. Also needed is improved coordination among United Nations agencies and regional organizations in assisting SIDS.

ABDELRAHIM AHMED KHALIL (Sudan): Said that the international community must recognize that SIDS occupied a very important part of the world's oceans and seas and must take a special responsibility for their sustainable development. The international community must also pay tribute to the struggle of those States, given the climate changes that were having a special effect on them.

The international community -- including international finance and trade institutions -- must commit itself to consolidating an environment favourable to investment in SIDS, and to enhancing their capabilities in education, training, institution-building and access to all world markets.

ALI HACHANI (Tunisia): Small island States need to have special responsibility in regards to the protection of the marine environment and its biodiversity. There are special problems that relate to their ecological vulnerability with respect to climatic change that make necessary the urgent implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action.

Globalization and the liberalization of trade add to the problems of small island States. The liberalization of the world economies has a negative impact on the economies of these countries. Better coordination of the Barbados strategies is needed to better grasp the problems that these States face. It is impossible to implement those strategies without the assistance of the international community and rich countries. The mobilization of financial resources and ecological technologies is necessary for them to work. Also, there is a need to assist small island States so they can benefit from globalization by having access to their export products.

FRANCISCO TUDELA (Peru): As the economic and material environment has improved in SIDS, the response on the part of the international community has remained the same: to become involved only when emergencies arise. The devastating effects brought about by the El Niño phenomenon dramatically illustrate the vulnerability of most SIDS.

All efforts must be made to transform the process of recovering the environment and ensuring its sustainable use for future generations. Beyond the Barbados Programme of Action, the issue of vulnerability and the threat of already expanding poverty being made worse by the climactic effects of the greenhouse effect must be addressed. Existing prevention, mitigation and reconstruction mechanisms are insufficient. The greenhouse phenomenon and its underlying causes must be better understood and handled.

The SIDS make a great contribution to negotiating procedures within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Caribbean States in particular have contributed greatly to the regional consultation mechanism in Latin America and the Caribbean. A number of those countries have made encouraging

progress in waste disposal management. It is significant that all SIDS have ratified the Convention on Biological Diversity.

NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER (Qatar): While the chief responsibility for development lies with States themselves, the international community has a major responsibility to assist SIDS in their efforts to cope with the effects of climate change, greenhouse gases, hurricanes and floods which have led to the destruction of harvests and other material damage. The widening gap between the developed and developing countries and globalization represents additional constraints on the development of small islands.

Joint efforts are vital in helping small islands to overcome constraints on their development. The developed countries have special responsibilities for helping to develop the resources of SIDS as they are responsible for the activities that have led to climate change, global warming, and their catastrophic consequences. Developed countries have a moral responsibility towards the SIDS. A common ground of understanding is needed because the efforts of small islands will not be sufficient to ensure the desired development.

International financial institutions have a central role to play in ensuring that development. The role of civil society and public interest institutions cannot be forgotten in helping small islands to cope with natural disasters and to implement their development plans. The concepts of globalization and liberalization have made the economies of the developing countries dependent and have set unfair challenges before them.

J. ENKHSAIKHAN (Mongolia): Small island developing States suffer from climate change and sea-level rise which they cannot control. Also, land degradation, loss of forests and waste mismanagement are serious concerns. Furthermore, they are obliged to import virtually everything, which makes costs higher. In addition, freight costs in these States are very high.

The SIDS have, individually and as a group, carried out a number of projects and programmes to promote sustainable development. However, despite their efforts, the ability of SIDS to fully implement these projects is limited. The donor community needs to mobilize and provide financial resources and technical assistance. It is also important for all States, as well as for international organizations, to display the necessary political will.

LEONARDO SANTOS SIMAO, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique: It is a matter of great concern to all developing countries that small islands are bracing against the gathering forces of globalization and trade liberalization which threaten to dramatically alter their economies and hamper efforts to promote sustainable development. How can developing countries compete in global markets against larger- scale operations in developed countries.

The developing countries should rally against the inhuman tentacles of globalization. While developing countries are and should be a part of the globalization process, they are calling for a globalization process with a human face. They envisage a process where all countries of the world can equally play an active role -- a process without globalizers and globalized countries.

Developing countries want a globalization process with special rules to protect weaker countries, in which mechanisms such as the Generalized System of Preferences, particularly the Lomé Convention -- a Trade and Aid Agreement that developed countries consider a model for North-South Cooperation -– should be viewed as a viable option. It is imperative that developed countries ensure the transfer of technology and technical assistance and reverse the downward trend of official development assistance if they really want to help the developing world to attain sustainable development.

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